fêting the forgotten; curating the uncultivated

Category Archives: Mercury

Based in Southern California as we are, we are sometimes overwhelmed, rendered fahrklempt, if you will, by the spectrum of feral finds accrued within the space of one day. As an experiment in feral foraging, we collected some examples stalked within the last 24 hours. No big narrative thread this time, just 7 unrelated — OK two are Italian and red — vehicles seen during a one-day period within the confines of a 5 square mile area. Ain’t life grand?

Ford Econoline pressed into hipster servitude

Alfa Duetto makes the retail scene

Corolla FX: feral freeway flyer

Topaz – costume jewelry from Mercury

El Camino sentenced to hard labor

Topless MBZ “Pagoda” motors on

If you’ve stalked a feral car and would like to submit a photo of it for posting consideration please send it to us: info (at) feralcars (dot)com OR through our Facebook page.

There are scads of surviving Mustangs choking our roads and filling Social Security Administration parking lots to this very day but Mavericks are few and far between. Introduced as the successor to the Falcon, these fast back-ish tudor sedans were Ford’s riposte to Plymouth’s Duster and Chevy’s Vega. Underneath that sleek, swoopy exterior were the guts of the predecessor Falcon on which, of course, Mustang was also based. On the same platform, Ford built equine and bovine, not to mention peregine-themed products. Quite a feat of bio-engineering! Maverick showed up in 1969 and the Falcon nameplate was dispatched to the recycling bin of automotive history though it continues, uninterrupted, to this day in Australia for some reason.

Chia pet coupe

We just love the patina on this ’71 Maverick, finished in multiple hues of moss-over-lichen and the fact that, after 43 years, it appears to be totally unmolested.

Horny Ford

Maverick continued for 7 years and sold vast numbers though they’re not often seen these days. Bigger bumpers were mandated by mid-decade as evidenced by the massive energy absorbing appurtenances on this ’74 in a chalky shade of blue. Photos by Feral Cars Scout Andrew Keeler.

Bumper thumper

Latter day ‘rick

It must be noted that Falcon’s Mercury-branded sister-under-the-skin Comet continued as a badge-engineered version of the Maverick that was fitted with a bit of a protruding proboscis and some additional chrome accents. Feral Cars Scout Steve Sultan captured this one just a few days ago, classing up a Berkeley street.

We certainly don’t intend to give short shrift to the Maverick and Maverick-based Comet’s predecessors so here you go with a set of original Ford-built compact cars. Feast your eyes on this 1961 Comet in black and a classy teal blue 1961 Falcon. Roots, mon!

FeralCars is delighted to have played a role in last week’s DRIVEN installation at Palm Springs’ Stephen Archdeacon Gallery, attended by scores of cognoscenti in town to celebrate Modernism Week.

Art parked

“Bob,” a swanky orange Mercury Bobcat begged the question, “Would a Pinto, by any other name, would still explode on impact?” Bob, along with an anonymous though glamorous, in a 1984 K-car kind of way, Chrysler LeBaron convertible greeted guests at the event celebrating the ‘car noir’ art of Eric Nash, hosted by ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons.

Matthew Reader, a/k/a “Mr. Palm Springs Modern,” curated the collection of cars deployed in the area that included a “Smokey and The Bandit” style Pontiac Trans Am, complete with “screaming chicken” hood treatment, an Oldsmobile 98 the length of three Smart cars, a Lincoln Continental Mark IV plus a “plain Jane” Ford station wagon that is the subject of one of Eric’s pieces. His set design sense was spot on with matches strewn around the Bobcat along with a gasoline can, a vintage lunchbox exhibition in the “wayback” of the Ford wagon and a literal “trunk show” of women’s shoes in very large sizes next to the Olds.

“Atlanta to Texarkana and back in twenty eight hours? That ain’t never been done before.” “That’s cause we ain’t never done it.

Kickin’ it Oldschool, curbside

After sundown, Feralcars presented a breathtaking slideshow in which 190 images were projected on an outside wall of the gallery. We’re told that some of these could be seen from the International Space Station but this has not been confirmed.

We’re excited to be involved with DRIVEN, an event that features the drawings of Eric Nash and some of his automotive subject matter in the flesh. If you find yourself anywhere near Palm Springs on February 19th please come on by. Eric’s art is nothing short of brilliant and we intend to populate the curb with some freaky feral finds.

Host for the event is ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons who knows a thing or two about cool cars. Here he is with a fine ’66 Mercury.

Clearly, Billy is crazy ’bout a Mercury

Click herefor an interview with Eric Nash by Angela Romeo. The guy is a talent!

Billy Gibbons spoke to Autoline about some the cars in his collection. Good stuff.

And here’s “that Gibbons boy” enlisting the help of Manny, Moe & Jack to help with an “out of round” tire.

Jeepers! ZZ Topper seems to have a case of the Willys

If you’ve stalked a feral car and would like to submit a photo of it for posting consideration please send it to us: info (at) feralcars (dot)com OR through our Facebook page.

Since 1962, when DeSoto bit the dust, it’s been difficult for any of the three major US automakers to justify the existence of brands between top-of-the-line offerings (Cadillac, Lincoln) and “value” oriented marques (Chevrolet, Ford). GM dumped Oldsmobile and, more recently, Pontiac while Ford bid Mercury adieu two years ago; its earlier Edsel experiment was short lived (’58 – ’60 model years) — a car built to fill a market void that wasn’t there.

Mercury held on the longest, making its debut in 1938 and ceasing production with the last Grand Marquis (good movie title!) built in early 2011. There were 21 million sold over that span and one of the post-war era’s most significant Mercs was the Comet, an upscale compact car, based on the Ford’s Falcon but with more girth and design presence. We found a spiffy ’62 Comet S-22 (the bucket seat model) recently that’s a really nice “as is” example.

If a meteor is smaller than a comet in space why is a Meteor larger than a Comet on the street?

The Comet was so successful (accounting for half of Mercury Division’s volume) a larger car, Meteor (along with Ford’s mid-size Fairlane), based on Falcon/Comet’s underpinnings, was introduced in ’62. The bucket seat version was called S-33 and we found a sterling example, paint notwithstanding, a ’63, to share. Mercury’s biggest car, Monterey, also offered a bucket seat version called S-55. S-44 must be chopped liver because they never used that designation.

We get it: Ford had a surplus of red and white paint.

In light of Comet’s Ford Falcon DNA, we couldn’t resist throwing one in here, especially since it wears the same color scheme as the Comet S-22. It’s a ’63 Falcon Futura (once more, the bucket seat model).

The Ed Sullivan Show was sponsored by Mercury and Ed, himself, was the brand’s pitchman in this ’56 spot.

While Mercury was usually paired at dealers with the upscale Lincoln brand, there was just one Mercury-only dealer in the country. Video here, shot in Canonsburg, PA

If you’ve stalked a feral car and would like to submit a photo of it for posting please send it to us: info (at) feralcars (dot)com

Include your name, location of the car and some thoughts about the vehicle and we’ll look into getting it posted.